Monday, June 7, 2010

From the Tree Up - Further Panel Modifications

Sometimes, a small change in the front of the panel can make a huge difference in saddle fit. Two handy modifications are the full front gusset and the wither gusset.

The wither gusset a great help when dealing with horses that have that dip below the wither, like so:

It's often used in conjunction with a dropped / trapezius or K panel, since those dips are often seen on the withery, rangy horses. It can fill in the gaps quite nicely. (Pardon the PhotoShopped saddle. Believe it or not, in the hundreds of photos that inhabit my computer, I can't seem to find one of a horse wearing a saddle with wither gussets. Of course, I'll find one about 20 minutes after I publish this ...)

You can see how the gusset settles into that dip, and helps keep the saddle up off the wither.

The full front gusset runs further down the front of the panel and sweat flap:

Apologies for the sideways shot - I tried several times to correct it. It looks fine in PhotoShop, but appears here sideways. No clue why.

The full front gusset can be helpful in keeping the saddle up off the wither on a lean, rangy horse when the wither gusset isn't quite the ticket. It can also help keep the saddle back on a horse who's rump-high, or who has a big barrel and a short, forward girth spot. A fitter can add flock and "square up" the gusset, which acts as a stop to help keep the saddle back.

1 comment:

Wow... thank you so much for publishing this blog. Am currently saddle shopping- coming from the saddle seat world to the dressage world, all the various options on saddles are making my head spin. Thank you for providing real life pictures of how things work with various conformations. I know now to keep an eye out for a gusseted panel for my ASB gelding..... Had no idea before!

Lyric

About Me

Owner of Panther Run Saddlery, saddler / saddle fitter (long-distance and hands-on), dressage rider/trainer, martial artist (Koro Ken Karatedo, 3rd. degree brown belt); one husband, two sons, two dogs (one Dobe, one mix), one horse (Hanoverian mare) and two cats. Living in the woods of So. VT, half a mile from the nearest neighbor - it's a great life.